Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC) is one of the most frequent and fatal intestinal disorders in preterm infants. Almost 10% of very-low-birth-weight infants (<1,500 g birth weight) develop NEC. More than 25% of them die from the disorder. The survivors are often faced with long-term neurological impairment. In 1990, Lucas and Cole (Lancet, 336:1519-23) had already reported that formula-fed infants are at a 6- to 10-fold higher risk to develop NEC when compared to breast-fed infants. Since then several molecules in human milk (e.g. LC-PUFA, PAF-AH, EGF) have been associated with NEC protection, mostly based on animal studies. However, despite improvements in formula composition over the past 10-15 years, formula-fed infants are still at a 6- to 10-fold higher risk than breast-fed infants. The data suggests that human milk contains something else that is missing in formula and protects breast-fed infants from NEC. Identifying the protective component in human milk as well as its mechanisms of action would pave the way for the development of desperately needed additional options to treat and maybe even prevent this devastating disorder.
We discovered that certain Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMO) protect the breast-fed infant from NEC. Thus, we provide formulations containing such HMOs, methods and means for inhibiting bowel disease such as NEC.